TOKYO - Japan's Pioneer Corp said on Friday it will delay issuing new shares to Honda Motor because it is in talks with other potential additional financial partners.

Pioneer, in its sixth straight year of annual loss, aims to raise 40 billion yen ($604 million) to shore up its financial standing, and has also said it is preparing to apply for public funds available to companies hit by the global financial crisis.

The struggling maker of consumer electronics did not elaborate on the talks, but it said Honda was still willing to buy 2.5 billion yen worth of new shares.

The issuance will be postponed to an unspecified time after being originally scheduled for the end of this month.

Honda agreed in April to buy the shares for 170 yen each in a capital boost to help Pioneer focus on auto electronics.

But Pioneer's shares have since risen along with a broad rise in equities markets and they closed up 1.0 percent at 297 yen on Friday.

The April deal would have given Japan's second-largest automaker a 6.5 percent stake in Pioneer, making it the second-largest shareholder behind LCD TV and solar panel maker Sharp Corp.

Pioneer's home electronics operations have been hurt by fierce competition with larger rivals such as Samsung Electronics, and its car electronics division was hit by slumping car sales amid the global financial crisis.

Pioneer expects a net loss of 83 billion yen in the current financial year to March 2010.